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Construction Consumer Products Metals & Materials Safety Environment Transportation Chemicals Energy Medical Quality
Growing Market for Green Products Spawns Interest in EPDs and PCRs
There was a time when environmentalism was a fringe issue, confined to a few countries and a limited spectrum of society. However, growing awareness of the consequences of poor environmental practices, as well as positive examples of the benefits of better environmental practices, has helped reshape the public's views. Now, in varying degrees, environmental awareness and concern are practically universal.
This has been reflected most obviously in government regulations, which have often been the first step toward reform and improvement. But private initiatives have grown in importance, as evidenced by the successes of the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) green building rating systems. In Europe, in particular, environmental product declarations, or EPDs, have become an element in helping the public and decision makers understand what is really "green" and in what ways.
Now, interest in EPDs is growing in North America. In part, says Amy Costello, environmental sustainability manager at Armstrong World Industries, Lancaster Pa., and a member of the ASTM board of directors, interest is growing because of the pervasiveness of "green washing" - marketing claims that a product is "green" or "natural" that offer no validation.
EPDs have been used for construction products since the 1990s; an International Organization for Standardization (ISO) standard for EPDs, ISO 14025, Environmental Labels and Declarations - Type III Environmental Declarations - Principles and Procedures, sets out requirements they should meet. In fact, EPDs are the product of two other acronyms - LCAs and PCRs. An organization seeking to provide an EPD for a product needs first to conduct a life cycle assessment, or LCA, of that product or material and then, in conjunction with an independent organization such as ASTM International, must develop an EPD. Both the EPD and LCA must follow the rules outlined in the product category rules, or PCR, for that type of item. PCRs for construction products have been developed in Australia, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Scandinavia and the United Kingdom.
Indeed, Costello says, she believes the prime driver for developing and adopting EPDs in the United States is the proposed LEED v4, which is being balloted this summer and which focuses on increasing technical rigor. "Manufacturers to some degree are driving PCRs because they understand the importance of making sure that the playing field is level," says Costello. For example, when a manufacturer conducts an LCA there are many assumptions that can be made in LCA modeling.
For example, what will happen to a material at the end of life? Will 100 percent be sent to a landfill or will 20 percent be incinerated and 80 percent sent to a landfill? How far will a finished product be transported after it is manufactured? Sometimes material is sent locally, sometimes far away, but the model requires an assumption.
"These types of assumptions result in uncertainty in the modeling results. So, if we can standardize these assumptions then we can have LCA model results that are more meaningful," says Costello. If one manufacturer makes assumptions that differ from another, then potentially the result for similar products may be radically different. "This issue worries manufacturers who are concerned that customers will select one product over another based on the environmental impacts provided in an EPD," she explains.
Like others in the field, Costello compares EPDs to mandatory food product labeling, which provides dietary information for packaged foods. The standard appearance of the labels are universally used so that consumers have a consistent way of comparing products.
Costello says LCAs are also important in and of themselves. "At Armstrong, we have been performing LCAs since around 2000 and have published their findings," she says. "That has helped manage the sustainability of the products."
There is the example of Levi Strauss, which wanted to look at the environmental impact of their company and performed an LCA on one type of their iconic jeans. The results showed that although there was room for improvement in activities such as cotton production and manufacturing, the greatest environmental impact associated with the product came in its use by consumers, where water and energy consumption (for washing) tipped the scale. Indeed, energy consumption after manufacture was several times higher, overall, compared to other parts of the product life cycle. That discovery prompted the company to work with retailers and detergent manufacturers to educate consumers about the potential financial and environmental benefits of washing less often and using detergents suitable for cold water washing.
For a company like Armstrong, Costello says the LCA process can yield similar insights. "We look at impact across the board. An LCA helps us understand which raw materials and processes have the biggest impacts," she says. With this knowledge, she explains, "we can redesign or reformulate our products or processes to reduce impacts." For example, the environmental impacts associated with our vinyl composition tile flooring are reduced when we use reclaimed post-consumer VCT material collected through our VCT recycling program. So, for Armstrong, understanding can lead to products that have reduced environmental impacts, Costello explains. "It is a network effect, where no one realizes the impact until you do an LCA," she adds.
Ralph M. Paroli, Ph.D., director, R&D, measurement science and standards, National Research Council of Canada in Ottawa, Ontario, says that increasing implementation of EPDs will be good for everyone. "For any given building, they can help you design for the characteristics you need such as cost, durability or emissions," he says. "Some products might have a high initial environmental footprint, but if they last for 100 years, they may actually be more environmentally friendly than something with a small footprint that only lasts two years."
Nor are EPDs likely to be confined to building materials. Paroli says he has seen an informal shift toward an EPD approach in the consumer field as well. "I have been in some Starbucks stores where they have decals showing that the materials they use are a certain percent more recycled than what they used previously," he says.
In the end, Paroli notes, the whole EPD process isn't really radical; it's a return to common sense. "My grandparents' generation thought about how long a product would last - they were really using life cycle thinking," he says. And that thinking is now back in vogue. "I have met college kids who are now studying life cycle assessment modeling as part of their curriculum," adds Costello.
ASTM International is a program operator for the development of product category rules and environmental product declarations. For more information on ASTM's program, contact Timothy Brooke, ASTM vice president of certification, training and proficiency testing (phone: 610-832-9729).
Alan R. Earls is a writer and author who covers business and technology topics for newspapers, magazines and websites. He is based near Boston, Mass.


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The goal of our project is to publish a journal on human rights in the duration of twelve months, two thousand copies per issue, edited by young people.
Each month we will cover different types of human rights violations in a unique and complex way, revealing the roots of the problems, their possible solutions, and their social impact, while maintaining a balance between a theoretical and a popular approach. We will do this by relying on the latest results from experts and young researchers of social sciences, both domestic and international.
Our goal is to publish high quality, meaningful articles for every age group, provoking public interest, helping in the exchange of ideas and propagating active involvement by achieving the public understanding and contemplating of human rights. The project started on 10 December 2009 (Human Rights Day) with a formal event in Tuzrakter.
Some of our editors are recent college graduates, majoring in communication and international studies, who realized how biased and one-sided the domestic media and press can be and how bureaucratic its functioning often becomes. Our editors would like to create their own alternative, versatile journal, based on the interest of the young adult population.
The online version of our journal will be available for all to comment. In addition, every month, 10-15 young people will be able to register to join us in our monthly workshop-style editorial meeting. Together, we will enquire about important human rights issues so they are able to create their own articles in an opinion-based genre. The best creations will appear in the following issue, thus helping all of those interested to get involved in our work.
We would like to offer a chance to recent college, university, and PhD graduates to publish their results in the field of human rights. Sharing it with professionals and their own age group will be beneficial to the journal's future success, as well as encouraging them to continue their work in the future. It would also be beneficial for representatives of NGOs to appear with public service announcements, with hotline numbers as guidance for those in need.
Structurally, the first part of the journal will consist more serious, meaningful essays, that will speak to the more experienced public, while the second part will be lighter in both style and genre to appeal to the non-expert, average reader. The cultural column will help processing the different themes by offering a selection of activities and programmes such as books and movies and a story section on two pages for the children (and their parents) to become more familiar with human rights, with developmental games included.
For professional help, we asked Dr. Ferenc Kondorosi, who is the editor of the Acta Humana human rights journal and the director of the Human Rights Center Hunagry, and a jurist. He will watch over the legitimacy and legal content of the publications and his experience as an editor gives him the authority to overrule professional decisions.
The themes of the 12 editions are the following:
- Human rights (introductory edition –generalities)
- The right to life (euthanasia, abortion, contraception, death penalty)
- Economic rights (trafficking of humans and organs, starvation, the system of humanitarian aid, genetic modifications, protection of intellectual property)
- Wars (torture, inhumane treatment, child soldiers)
- Refugees, migrants, diasporas (homeless, xenophobia, immigration, Hungary in the eyes of foreigners and vice versa)
- Liveable environment (global v. local, fair trade, sustainability v. expansion, biodiversity)
- The right to health (patients' rights, hospital law, traditional v. alternative methods of healing, medicine industry, vaccination, world epidemics)
- Traditions (tribal rituals, ceremonies of adolescence, mutilation, initiation, capsize of old systems, new lifestyles, 'singles')
- Rights of generations (intergeneration: the elderly v. youth, intrageneration: male v. female roles)
- Rights of sexuality (male/female prostitution, domestic violence, roles)
- "Jokes" (discrimination, latent racism, freedom of press and opinion, demonstrations – where are the borderlines)
- Dignity (sexuality – homosexuals, religious – jews, ethnic – romas, physical and psychological hindered)
The fundamental values of the newspaper are equality befor law, democratic values and human rights, freedom of expression and speech and the ensuring diversity. Researching the problems we want to objectively reveal the contradictions of the already established stereotypes, the complexities of the issues concerning human rights. This is how we would like to become an authentic and reliable newspaper source for youth and to combat prejuidice. We would like to bring those topics closer to younger people, which so far have been regarded as incomprehansible (e.g. biodiversity or gene manipulations). We would also like to reveal to them all those aspects that could affect them in their later lives and the way to become an active moulders of public life.
The projects educates tolerance and the acceptance of diversity from the very beginning. The complexity of the given human rights issues will then ensure the actual realization of this principle.
To join our work, write to Ez az e-mail cím a spamrobotok elleni védelem alatt áll. Megtekintéséhez engedélyeznie kell a JavaScript használatát.

subset: commoncrawl


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Redland Resort
This started as a landscaping project that grew! The water feature is skillfully carved from the natural lime stone (coral) which is prevalent in S. Florida. This most tranquil natural pond is great for relaxation and cool dips year round. An added feature is no chemicals or maintenance are necessary.
1 of 12: This is a beautiful oasis created by Jungle B's Landscaping in Homestead Florida. Ben Bistrong does amazing yard transformations.
4 of 12: The island is carved from the coral. You can swim around the island under the coral bridges.
Comments / Questions
Bill and Mary Ann. This is such an unbelievable water feature! You should submit this in the Lawn Wars TV Show contest. Go to the Yard Contests tab to get started. Good Luck!
You "pond" is amazing! Remarkable! Unbelievable!
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SELECT o.order_number,
p.product_name, i.quantity, i.unit
FROM [ order ] o
JOIN order_item i ON o.id = i.order_id
JOIN product p ON p.id = i.product_id
ORDER BY o.order_number
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text:
The unveiling of Hammond as a Leicester City player has come as a shock to many Foxes supporters, who believed there were no plans for Nigel Pearson to add to his squad. The City manager has been seen to limit the number of signings as he looks to limit the wage bill following the introduction of the Financial Fair Play scheme last season.
Indeed, Hammond becomes only the second new face at the King Power Stadium this summer, with Zoumana Bakayogo the only other new recruit at the Foxes during this transfer window. Hammond is nonetheless a welcome addition to the youthful City midfield, the 30-year-old offering promotion experience following his stint with the Saints.
"We're really pleased to be able to add a player of Dean's quality and experience to the squad," said Pearson, "As well as having played a considerable number of games in his career, he also arrives with promotion credentials and will be a very positive influence on the squad both on and off the pitch."
Hammond will wear the number seven shirt following the departure of Ben Marshall to Blackburn Rovers during the week.


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We still have to finish stripping the paint off of the dressers and find a way to repair one of the drawers but I'm relieved that our room is almost done. As much as it can be for a while. We don't have much furniture, just the bed and side tables with the dressers and chair. Right now I'm happy with some of the empty space but I also like that it gives me the opportunity to fill it up if I find something right. If I can keep toys and laundry out of here, I feel successful!
Other Stories
7 comments:
I have to say it again - I like your way of furnishing very much, it's similar to ours :)ReplyDelete
I love those dressers. Stripping paint is so much work, but will be so worth it with those pieces.ReplyDelete
It looks very nice, love your side tables and the accessories.Have a nice day.ReplyDelete
i thought that the unfinished painted dresser was done! it's like a flower at the end of the painted part! love itReplyDelete
Billy ball flowers always make me smile! :) Glad to hear you're making progress!ReplyDelete
looks lovely!ReplyDelete
It looks so clean, lovely!ReplyDelete
Thank you for your comments, I love hearing from you!
Questions, comments or sponsorship inquires, please contact me via the 'contact' link.


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1st mom's day
What a wonderful 1st Mother's Day I had yesterday.
Have I mentioned that I have the BEST husband? He
reminds me all the time of why I fell in love with him,
why I married him and why I have a son with him. Over
the years he has only become more the man of my dreams
than the day we took our vows.
He surprised me with pretending to go to work but instead
buying scones, deep purple
tulips, a "Happy Mom's Day" banner that he made and a
handwritten card he made from Israel's scribbles.
Yes, I cried, pretty much instantly!
I love how cheery the tulips make the living room. Makes
me wonder why I don't buy flowers more often?
Other Stories
22 comments:
aww, what a sweet card!ReplyDelete
that card is GENIUS! what a sweet hubby...and your living room is so pretty!ReplyDelete
happy belated mothers day!
Wow, so nice.ReplyDelete
It´s that chair Sarinen´s womb chair ? (it´s really motherly and my favorite)
good job Miah!! what an amazing brother I have.. the card was for sure Hallamrk material!ReplyDelete
so sweet!ReplyDelete
The idea of making something by hand for your mom never grow old. My sister and I once did this to our mom. We cleaned up the house and decorated the living just for our mom. She had the biggest smile on her face. It was worth it.ReplyDelete
Sounds like you had such a great day!! Those flowers are gorgeous!ReplyDelete
Rachelle xo
Such a sweet day. Way to go Miah. :) Love and miss you darling.ReplyDelete
Wow! What a sweet day you had.ReplyDelete
And your husband's penmanship is so quirky-fantastic-cool.
so lovely!! isn't mothers day so romantic? i love the banner.ReplyDelete
- AnonymousMay 10, 2010
that card is just...gah. i love it.ReplyDelete
xo Alison
oh my.. so sweet! you totally deserve it :) i love israel's scribbles!ReplyDelete
the best mums day for the best mum, totally deserved & beyond!ReplyDelete
the sweetest card ever. how touching!ReplyDelete
i'd have to say that that is one of the best surprises ever--husband pretending to go to work!
Heck I cried just reading this post! You deserve this girl-you are a wonderful mama!ReplyDelete
- AnonymousMay 11, 2010
Found your blog through Minna, lucky me. Beautiful.ReplyDelete
- AnonymousMay 11, 2010
we´ve just opened a space for those who like to spend time being creative and meeting people with same interests while visiting a different country: a residence for illustrators and crafters in Spain
we hope you like it!
AWWW! That's so sweet of him. Bonus points for making you the card and the banner. He's a keeper that one :-)ReplyDelete
p.s. how did I ever miss those bertoia chairs, and are those the sheep throws from IKEA?
love them!!!
Your first Mother's Day sounds wonderful. The homemade card would mean much more to me than any store bought card would. I loved the wording on the card as well.ReplyDelete
that card is SO lovely -- and very well deserved! xoxoReplyDelete
That is the sweetest card EVAH!ReplyDelete
Thank you for your comments, I love hearing from you!
Questions, comments or sponsorship inquires, please contact me via the 'contact' link.


text:
I couldn't let this day go by without posting one last word for the year.
So I leave you with these thoughts....
This year has had so many wonderful moments in it:
A great year for traveling to see dear friends and family-- from Michigan to Washington (and Texas in between.)
It's been a year of blessings: finding good renters for our Arizona house; family members making it through surgeries and accidents without too many complications. There have been engagements and weddings and births.
Its been a year of growth: creatively, personally, spiritually and physically.
Its been a year for re-connecting with friends I love.
It's been a year for good things.
Its also been difficult...
Two dear friends lost children this year.
Three of my friends lost a parent...all to cancer.
I've got people I love who are struggling in their marriages.
Some friends have dealt with unexpected health issues, some with chronic illness.
There have been messes, some of my own making.
Yes, there has been unimaginable joy and deep, deep, sorrow.
Sometimes, when the weather get colder and the days get longer, the sorrow is what lingers in my mind... My heart... My focus...
Until I read this:
One day we shall see that nothing - literally nothing- that could have increased our eternal happiness has been denied us and that nothing - literally nothing - that could have reduced that happiness has been left with us.
-J.I.PackerGod is in control. In 2009. In 2010.
As I look back at all the sorrows and blessings of the year that has past. I am reminded that life isn't temporal, there's so much more...but in the meantime we have a full life to live, and we aren't left to ourselves in times of joy or sorrow:
One day we shall see....


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MasterCraft NXT – First Look
The NXT is a 20-foot MasterCraft designed and built in the same factory as our legendary line of premium towboats. Packed with performance in a product that will hold its value, we're excited to open up the MasterCraft brand to a whole new audience. This is for the customer who has always wanted a MasterCraft but believed it was just out of reach…now there's no reason to settle for a second-class ride. And those who are frustrated with the limited possibilities with their I/O boat, take heart.
The NXT is the perfect introduction to a variety of action, including wakesurfing. Nicely equipped at $50,000 USD, this is the most accessible MasterCraft ever. With good credit, a sample payment is about $400 a month.
For more info check out www.mastercraft.com/whatsnxt
TagsArticles MasterCraft MasterCraft Boats 2014 MasterCraft NXT 2015 MasterCraft NXT MasterCraft NXT Boat
you guys are total fags. Make a boat thats under 40k
^^^ This could possibly be the best comment ever!


text:
|Photo: From left, Patrick Scott (Ed.D. '80), Professor Bruce Vogeli and Hector Rosario (Ph.D. '03)
The region is now home to a wealth of journals and organizations for mathematics researchers and educators, and has seen an explosion of virtual communities and information sharing along with a revitalization of math education programs. In 2014, symbolizing this wholesale transformation, 35-year-old Artur Avila of Brazil became Latin America's first recipient of the prestigious Fields medal for his work in the area of chaos theory.
Such was the backdrop for the Symposium on Math Education in Latin America, which brought the region's leading lights in the field to TC on Columbus Day. The event, chaired by Bruce Vogeli, Clifford Brewster Upton Professor of Mathematical Education, was TC's second annual international mathematics education symposium. It also marked the publication of Mathematics and Its Teaching in the Southern Americas, an anthology edited by Vogeli, Héctor Rosario (Ph.D. '03), and Patrick Scott (Ed.D. '80) that examines the progress the region has made over the past five decades.
"I felt that there was something to be said by my colleagues in Latin America concerning their successes," said Vogeli. "This gives them a voice of their own."
Many of the work's contributors—from Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, México, Panamá, Paraguay, Perú, Puerto Rico, Trinidad and Tobago, and Venezuela—presented at the symposium alongside TC faculty members Alexander Karp and Henry O. Pollak (honoree at the 2013 symposium).
"Where you have different cultures you have different views of mathematics," said Brazil's Ubiratan D'Ambrosio, a pioneer in the field of ethnomathematics who spoke via Skype hook-up to receive TC's 2014 International Mathematics Education Achievement Award. His views were echoed by Eliana D. Rojas of the Neag School of Education at the University of Connecticut, who contributed to the anthology her study of Chilean programs, and whose current focus is Latin American students who have immigrated to the United States. "The population of Latino students in the U.S. is growing," said Rojas, who has been federal funded since 2011 to train a cohort of education professionals to work more successfully with Connecticut's ELLs (English language learners) in Connecticut, which has the largest math achievement gap in the nation. "In 2011 they were 9.1 percent of the student population. By 2015, one out of five students will be an ELL. We need greater context assessment and evaluation in order to build bridges between Latin American students and their teachers in this country."
Vogeli believes that understanding the prior math preparation of immigrant students from Latin America can provide important opportunities to foster their inclusion and success in U.S. classrooms. "There are different recipes for long division in different countries," he says. "If a Guatemalan student demonstrates her method of long division to a U.S. class, it can be a source of learning and cultural pride."
Read more...
Source: TC Columbia University


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Samsung Galaxy S II, Epic 4G Touch
Info Photos News Forum 100+ Reviews
Phone Scoop Review
Sep 15, 2011 by Eric M. Zeman
The Sprint version of the Epic 4G Touch packs WiMax 4G, TouchWiz, a speedy processor, 4.5-inch touch display and a host of Sprint software. Do these all add up to a killer phone? read review ›
User Reviews
Average Ratings
just a few reminders
well.this is phone is sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo FANTASTIC. but first time smartphone users and as well as for those whose trying to compare device from another ANDROID. I would highly recommend that you visit a store and try doing the Sprint Ready Now service.That's a service that would really, I mean really help you guys a lot to learn and understand how does the device works.Just view Sprint.com/readynow to make an appointment. Sprint rep will be helping you guys and teaches how does the device performs/They'll be giving you some tips and how to amximize device full potential. ;). You can even view it online @ sprint.com/getreadynow to view some video tutorials. :). that could really help you guys a LOT! :)
Best phone I have owned
I never give a phone a full five stars but this phone deserves it (despite a few minor cons I will discuss later). I switched from an Evo 4G which I really liked but this phone is in a class by itself. It was between this phone and the iPhone 4s. I am certain I made the right choice. Not only does this phone handle websites like YouTube much better than even my iPad can, but it is a great phone experience as well as a great web browser.
-Best web browser I have used on a phone
-Most beautiful display I have ever seen
-Great battery life for a large smartphone
-Very colorful and easy to see menus
-Great levels of customization available
-Easy to navigate menus
-Excellent sound quality (speaker & earpiece)
-Thin and lightweight
-Camera is amazing (equal even to iPhone)
-Large easy to use keyboard w/swype
-Very fast processor
-Smooth operation/transitions
-Expandable memory
-Power button position (see below)
-Plastic build materials (see below)
-No HDMI port
-Lack of good cases (see below)
The phone does have a few cons. As I mentioned above I do not like the power button position. It is opposite the volume controls and I keep lowering the volume when hitting the power button. The thin textured plastic back does feel a little flimsy on the black model. Although on the white model the smooth textured back actually feels much more solid and higher end. It is hard to describe how different the two versions feel. The white model reminds me very much of a huge version of my old white iPhone 3s. There is no HDMI port but I never used the one on my EVO. There is also a lack of good covers, but I have found covers cause more damage than they prevent when dust gets in them. None of these issues are major and none detract from the phone deserving a full 5 stars when compared to other phones.
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Galaxy amazing.
My last phone was the Galaxy S 4g with T mobile. I made the switch to Sprint because this phone was an upgrade in so many ways.
The screen size is amazing. The amoled on this size of a screen makes everything so much brighter and bigger. The amoled plus is also much more defined. There is also a new sense 2.3.4 and they've changed some things, the widget screen to customizable, you can do all screens at once. It comes pre loaded with amazing weather,calender aps. I'm very pleased so far.
Has blazing fast recognition. The 2.0 Ghz Processor really shows when doing multiple applications. The camera works great, faster response. 1080p is a big plus.
Only down fall is a personal issue, the speaker being on the right, I hold my phone with my right hand so it seems to cover the speaker at times. But my hand also acts as a theater system amplifying the sound to me.
The phone comes with 16g of memory which is amazing. Most apps require more room, so a micro SD is needed. When I used the web cam the color was distorted, took a min to get light, seemed to work fine after that. Other then that I'm pleased.
I'm very happy with my switch to the Epic 4g.
Pros-screen size,amoled plus,new interface
Cons-speaker,web cam coloration :)
Gps? Where are you?
This is a beautiful device, truly the screen, responsiveness and the camera are wonderful. Seductive enough, almost, to forget what this device is supposed to do, make phone calls. I gave up, after months of using this phone, and getting sub-par performance out of the signal strength and call quality, the last straw came on my last trip to Chicago, when the gps proved to be laughable. I mean, it not only doesn't work, but when it's working, it's not working. I went through two of these phones, and my girlfriend still has hers, and none of them posess the ability to lock on to gps satellites. And if you're thinking that you'll just use the map function without the gps, you forget, you're also not getting signal. No signal, no gps, sorry, you're beautiful, but thats a deal breaker for me.
some things to know
Ok as far as the overall phone goes i absolutely love it. But there are some problems you need to know before getting one.
1)The LoS issues
-from what ive seen the radio has problems switching back and forth from 3g-4g
-sprint reps have said that leaving the 4g off(just turning it on for downloads/streaming) seems to fix the issues and i would have to agree
2)Touch screen issues while plugged into the wall
-some chargers seem to be causing an issue where the touchscreen glitches or becomes unresponsive at times
-only fix ive found so far is to replace the charger(went to local sprint store and they were happy to change out the charger for me)
As far as the hardware on the phone goes it absolutely amazing but, due to what im hoping are just some software issues, it holds this phone back from being the best it can be.
Mostly Happy But a Few Concerns
I carry 2 phones, work and personal. I already had the Motorola Photon for a personal phone. I was using the Optimus V from VirginMobile for work due to the unlimited plan being affordable. But ported the number to Sprint after coverage issues. I bought the iPhone 4s. I was happy how easily it fit in my pocket and carrried the MoPho in a case on my belt. After becoming disenchanted with the 4s because of miserably slow data speeds (on 3G AND wifi) I looked for something better. I swapped the iPhone for the SGS2. I'm mostly loving this phone. However, I am learning that it is lacking in the "Radio" Dept. The call quality and reception are not great. I rarely and I mean rarely ever drop calls with Sprint. But I haven't had good luck with this phone. The earpiece isn't very clear either. The speakerphone is also borderline. I am apprehensive about relying on this phone for basic communication purposes. Also, the GPS is quirky. Yesterday I was driving some place I hadn't been before. I wasn't sure where I was. I opened Google maps. The GPS icon kept flashing telling me it couldn't get a lock. Google maps thought I was about 3 miles away from where I really was. I was parked while doing this. So I got out my MoPho and instantly got a GPS lock.
Pros: Amazing display!! Very responsive. Battery is acceptable.
Cons: Call quality, ability to hold on to a call, GPS problems.
I'm trying to figure out if I just have a defective unit or if its the phone design. I have another 8 days to return it for something else.
amazing hardware lousy software
I have been trying to love this phone....but im returning it. The phone itself is by far the best out. The software however is too glitchy for me. Ebay app and a couple others always force close when EVO did not. Wifi turns on automatically. Power save mode doesnt revert back after charged. led light doesnt work right with handcent sms. some days battery is amazing and another day with same usage it gets hot and dies quick. bluetooth disconnects from my car for no reason.
I am not gonna wait for an update . however the phone is amazing and once the software is updated it will be perfect.
I gave it a four rating based on the hardware. The. software on the Evo is much better.
camera and video are amazing
call quality is not good
going to return and swap for a more stable phone
Some problems but an awesome phone
The Samsung Epic 4G touch is a pretty awesome phone. The main issue with it is the software is buggy. For no reason at all, the phone will lose connection to the 3G and phone service. The 4G connection seems to keep working when this happens. Samsung hopefully will come out with a software update to solve this issue. The phone will rate five stars when the software update happens.
--Large vibrant screen. Almost lifelike at displaying pictures.
--Clear external speaker (speakerphone)
--Excellent camera
--Camera flash
--Excellent 4G connectivity.
--Very thin.
--Very lightweight. Almost too light
--Very fast processor. Awesome!!!!
--SD Card can be removed with out removing the battery.
--Buggy software
--Slippery case
--Accessories not widely available yet
Best phone on the market
I have had most of the top of the line including iphones and other android phones. This is by far the best phone I have ever had. Extremely fast, tons of memory, thin, lightweight, screen is ridiculous and the battery life is pretty good. There is not another phone that I would take over this phone.
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Excellent phone for the price
Carrier: Sprint
I carried the Galaxy S2 Epic 4G Touch for nearly two years, and while it showed its age towards the end, as any handset is wont to do, for most of my time with it, it was a sleek, reliable handset with average battery life and a camera good enough for me to capture lovely images on my walks.


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SALT LAKE CITY, Dec. 6, 2010 – Four years after the LouseBuster prototype made headlines when research showed the chemical-free, warm-air device wiped out head lice on children, a new study reveals that a revamped, government-cleared model is highly effective.
"For a louse, it's like sticking your head out a window at 100 miles an hour; they're going to get dried out," says University of Utah biology Professor Dale Clayton, senior author of the study and a founder of Larada Sciences, a university spinoff company that sells or leases the LouseBuster to schools, camps, medical clinics and delousing businesses.
The new study of 56 louse-infested children and adults – soon to be published in the January 2011 issue of the Journal of Medical Entomology – found 94.8 percent of lice and their eggs, known as nits, were dead after treatment with the LouseBuster.
The original LouseBuster prototype proved effective in a study published in November 2006 in the journal Pediatrics. But it was noisy, wouldn't plug into home electrical outlets and got tangled in curly hair. It looked like a cumbersome canister vacuum with a hose on it, and blew warm air through a comb-like applicator.
After the first study, thousands of people with louse-infested children contacted Clayton and the University of Utah seeking the device, even though it was only a research prototype and was meant for eventual use by school nurses and other delousing professionals, not private individuals. It took three more years for the revamped LouseBuster to hit the market after gaining U.S. Food and Drug Administration clearance as a medical device. It was patented in September 2010.
University of Utah biology Professor Dale Clayton demonstrates how the LouseBuster is used to kill head lice and their eggs by blowing a large volume of warm air onto the hair and scalp. A new study found that lice are effectively eradicated by the commercial version of the device, which has gained clearance from the US Food and Drug Administration and now is being sold by university spinoff company Larada Sciences of Salt Lake City for use in schools, camps, medical clinics and delousing businesses.
(Photo Credit: Sarah Bush, University of Utah.)
"We've moved from clinical trials to having the machine available so infested people can get treated by this device. It's not a prototype anymore," says the study's first author, Sarah Bush, an assistant professor of biology at the University of Utah.
The new LouseBuster sports improvements over the prototype: less noise, the ability to plug into a standard electrical outlet and an applicator that doesn't get tangled in hair. The applicator delivers air through 28 cone-shaped tips held against the scalp.
Larada Sciences sells the LouseBuster for $2,000 to $2,500 to nonprofit organizations such as schools and medical clinics. The company also has various sale or lease arrangements with trained and certified LouseBuster operators who provide treatments in salons or clients' homes for $125 to $275 per person. Such small delousing businesses have been springing up recently as head lice have become more prevalent.
Bush and Clayton ran the study with Alex Rock, Sherri Jones and Jael Malenke, research technicians from Larada Sciences in Salt Lake City. The study was funded by the National Science Foundation, Utah Centers of Excellence program and Larada Sciences. Clayton and some other authors have a financial interest in the company.
LouseBuster: Faster, Gentler and Better Than Other Methods
The most widely used delousing products are shampoos and other chemical treatments toxic to lice. But lice are evolving resistance to insecticides, and many people find the old treatments ineffective. As a result, louse infestations are on the rise.
This blood-engorged head louse is the sort that plagues many children and their families. University of Utah biologists developed chemical-free, warm-air device called the LouseBuster, which kills hatched lice and their eggs, according to a new study. The LouseBuster now is on the market after gaining government clearance.
(Photo Credit: Sarah Bush, University of Utah.)
Even when the shampoos work, they kill only hatched lice, not nits. Infested people must shampoo again after the nits have hatched, and if they get the timing wrong – waiting until the newly-hatched lice have laid eggs of their own – treatment must begin again. Also, many parents are reluctant to use chemical treatments on their children.
Combs to remove lice and nits also are popular, but combing out the critters is tedious and can take hours, particularly in long hair. Every nit must be removed.
People also use various other products and home remedies to combat lice, but most alternative treatments are untested or ineffective.
The LouseBuster is a nonchemical treatment that is safe, easy and effective. It dries out lice and nits with precisely delivered jets of warm air during a single, 30-minute treatment. The device delivers two to three times more air than a standard blow dryer.
"It's the volume of air as much as the temperature that kills lice," says Clayton. The LouseBuster blows air at about 138 degrees Fahrenheit – cooler than common blow dryers. A 15-minute comb-out after treatment removes dead lice and nits.
"This thing is incredibly innocuous," with no ill effects reported, Clayton says.
Study Shows LouseBuster is Lousy for Lice in Any Climate or Hair
The new LouseBuster study compared the number of live and dead lice and nits before and after treatment on the 56 study participants. Lice and nits were collected from half of each patient's head at the start of the experiment. Then, the whole head was treated with the LouseBuster. Next, lice were collected from the other side of the head. The researchers checked how many lice were alive and how many of the nits would hatch.
Most of the lice and nits collected at the start of the experiment were alive. After treatment by experienced LouseBuster operators, 88.2 percent of hatched lice were dead and 99.2 percent of nits failed to hatch, for an overall mortality of 94.8 percent.
Lice not killed immediately apparently were sterilized by the LouseBuster or died later. Any eggs that might have been missed by combing or other methods did not hatch because the LouseBuster treatment killed them. That means the LouseBuster can be an important tool for schools that abandon the "no nit" policy, as was recommended recently by the American Academy of Pediatrics. If the eggs have been killed, then removing all of them is not essential.
Some patients were treated by operators who underwent a two-hour training session, but had not yet used the LouseBuster to treat anyone. Slightly fewer lice were killed by the novice operators, but the difference was not statistically significant.
Tests were conducted in Florida and Tennessee, which have humid climates, and Utah, which has a dry climate. The researchers also categorized each subject's hair as long or short, thick or thin, and curly or straight. Climate and hair type made very little difference in the LouseBuster's ability to kill lice and nits.
The LouseBuster's patent holds out the possibility that people may not be the only customers for the LouseBuster. In the future, a similar device may be developed for use on louse-infested sheep and other livestock.
The commercial version of the LouseBuster -- invented at the University of Utah and now sold by Larada Sciences of Salt Lake City -- is improved over the prototype. Compared with the original, the new version (shown here) is quieter, can be plugged into standard electrical outlets and has an applicator with 28 cone-shaped tips that do not get tangled in hair. The device sells for $2,000 to $2,500 and also can be leased for use in schools, medical clinics, camps and delousing businesses. Such businesses provide LouseBuster treatments for $125 to $275 per person.
(Photo Credit: Sarah Bush, University of Utah.)
Source: University of Utah


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Eric Nelson is one of those rare advisor's advisors. Apart from keeping up with academic financial research, he will sit down with his Windows-based statistical program to perform a three-factor regression analysis to determine where a mutual fund adds value.
By publishing such analyses on his blog, RealClearMarkets or Amazon Money&Markets, he offers other advisors — and high-net-worth investors — insight on the narrow crossroads where investment theory meets the financial products that advisors use.
While Nelson's research has led him firmly in the DFA direction recently — he used to use a mix of Dimensional Fund Advisors and Vanguard products, but is now 100% in the DFA camp — Nelson insists that working with the exclusive fund company is not the principal source of value he offers clients.
"At the end of the day, DFA is just a tool," he tells ThinkAdvisor in a phone interview. "There's probably an added 1% in higher returns I can bring to my clients using DFA funds. But that's not as big as the 2%-3% a year investors are [routinely] losing by doing the wrong thing" through actively managed funds and undisciplined investing.
And that is the topic — where an advisor really adds value, and where they all too often let down their clients — that Nelson wanted to address.
"An area that frustrates me is you have one segment of the advisory industry that struggles to communicate their value, so all they do is they slash their fees to bargain basement levels. And clients don't know what they own and don't stay with it.
"On the other side, there are advisors who provide abstract planning elements, but there's only so much time in a day to meet with clients. When things get tough, they're more likely to bail at the wrong time."
The result, he says, was 2008 — specifically all the fearful investors who sold at the wrong time.
"From the perspective of someone who worked with an advisor who didn't spend time to help the client understand why his portfolio was right for the long term—[2008] was the advisors' fault, [clients] not knowing what they owned, so they sold."
The principal of Oklahoma City-based Servo Wealth Management says he makes sure to take the time necessary to ensure clients do not obey any destructive instincts they might have.
The boutique firm serves about 25 affluent clients — nearly half outside of Oklahoma — with about $50 million in assets. Nelson's goal is to have 100 clients with $250 million in assets over the next 5 to 10 years. He does not want to have more clients than he feels he can properly manage.
"I use six or seven core broad asset classes. That's enough to get meaningful diversification," he says, but not so much that it undermines clients' understanding of what they own.
Investment management is mainly about "having a portfolio that actually achieves what they're trying to accomplish and making sure the client doesn't screw it up," he says, adding that knee-jerk selling and chasing investment performance are the two destructive paths investors pursue when they are not properly counseled.
So while intelligent investment analysis and deep product knowledge are of value, the advisor's key added value is simpler, and less tangible, than those.
"My biggest criticism of the industry is that [few] advisors really look at that as being their primary responsibility … Everybody [instead] says they can time the market or pick winning managers or are the first kid on the block with some hot new asset class.
"But the real value is sort of intangible—providing an appropriate portfolio and being disciplined is hard to quantify; it's hard to measure the value of not behaving badly.
"But for clients who've experienced that, who have stayed with a plan when their knee-jerk response was to do something different, they appreciate that value."
The fee-only RIA must be doing something right; he says half the growth of his firm stems from referrals from existing clients and the other half from people who read his blog posts and published articles. Many of those prospective clients cite bad experiences they've had with other advisors who may have overpromised but underdelivered.
"It's such a competitive industry," Nelson says, "and it's so hard to explain in an introductory meeting what value I provide. It often defaults to 'I can beat the market' or 'I'm smarter than everyone else.' That's the predominant message. It's completely wrong. It's a farce."
Check out these related stories on ThinkAdvisor:


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Ring Brothers 1969 Camaro (2 of 11)
Associate Editor
Steven is the grandson to the legendary Bob Bunker who piloted the green "Folsom Flash" 1955 Chevy from the 70's through the 90's. As a dragstrip kid, Steven started his automotive journalism path by photographing drag racing events and also building drag cars while working in his fathers shop. Since joining our team, Steven has grown leaps and bounds journalistically. He is now artfully crafting stories around the awesome machines at the shows, as well as the men and women behind them. When Steven is not on the road covering events, he spends his downtime out on the water fishing, building his 1962 Chevy Nova, or cruising his 1987 GMC Suburban.


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* 3½ lb. young chicken, cut into frying pieces
* ¼ cup sliced shallots
* 3 cloves garlic, sliced
* 2 tsp. crushed dried red hot chili
* 5 candlenut, crushed
* 1/8 tsp. turmeric
* 1 tsp. salt
* 1 tsp. sugar
* 2 cups coconut milk
* 1 Tbs. Vegetable oil
* 1 thick slice ginger
* 1 stalk lemon grass
- Blend the shallots, garlic, chili, candlenut, salt and sugar with ¼ cup of the coconut milk into a paste.
- Heat the oil in a wok and sauté the paste for a minute or two until you can smell the aroma.
- Place the chicken, ginger and lemon grass into the wok and stir fry for five minutes or more over medium heat. Then add the rest of the coconut milk, and let it cook for forty five minutes, stir the chicken frequently.
- It is ready to be served if the sauce is somewhat thickened and the chicken should be tender.
Makes 4-6 servings.
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ArkansasLearns.org/NorthLittleRock is a private sector alliance dedicated to excellent education for all students to ensure the talent and workforce necessary for our community to successfully compete in a global economy.
To vote, comment and share on local issues of interest, join the North Little Rock Local Voter Group - Powered by Votility. Simply click the link below and register to gain full access to the site, including federal and state education issues.
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Arkansas Democrat-Gazette: Monopoly vs. choice, When our 'leaders' forget the pastPosted in Arkansas Learns, Tuesday, May 17, 2016Shared by Permission of Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
"Everything faded into mist. The past was erased, the erasure was forgotten, the lie became truth."
--George Orwell, 1984
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Votre titre Audible gratuit
The Birth of Britain
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Ce que les auditeurs disent de The Birth of Britain
- Terry Pettengill
- 11/02/2007
Birth of Britain
Winston Churchill's seminal work crackles right along through centuries of British depravity and triumphs, just enough detail and on you go (although one might wish to hear a bit more of the condition of the non-noble common man). Churchill spices his research with a generous serving of opinion in a way that only one who has "been there" can do. While it was launched decades ago it remains a very contemporary history.
32 personnes ont trouvé cela utile
- Stephen
- 02/09/2009
Fantastic Historical Detail and Accuracy
Winston Churchill takes a period of history for which most are simply unaware and breaks it down into manageable sections, and while packed with details, his presentation is more like reading a story rather listening to a history lesson. Christian Rodska is simply wonderful to listen to and makes this great volume of information a very easy listen. The only downside I can think of is that listening to 16 hours of audio twice is a lot to handle, but believe me, you will want to, it really is that good.
29 personnes ont trouvé cela utile
- brendanstallard
- 02/08/2012
Excellent History
I passed exams in History at school, how I don't know. I found it boring to the max.
A couple of years ago, I started to read the fabulously bitchy history of England by Baron Macaulay for Librivox audio. It was an absolute hoot, which made me realise that history can be interesting and fun.
The more I read, the more I realise how good *this* work of Winston Churchills really is. David Hume's is probably the more complete, but this definitely puts meat on dry bones. The late Winston was an opinionated old scoot, and without doubt, definitely a snob. He unquestionably considered the aristocracy, of which he was a member, rather better than yer average citizen.
Strangely enough, while that does come through, it doesn't annoy.
I particularly enjoyed his take on the middle ages, where it had the definite ring of veracity.
Every history of Britain suffers from lack of detail from Caesars time through about AD800 or so. The documents are patchy, and mostly compiled from monks drawing the history of their church, rather than the times. Churchill runs through this time lightly, offering his opinion as best as can be gained from the documents available, and better than most, Hume included.
Very well read, very well written and consistently interesting. A surprise and a constant delight.
21 personnes ont trouvé cela utile
- Mark Patterson
- 28/08/2006
A Complicated Glimpse into Churchill's Mind
Churchill's writing is good and the history is engaging. If you are a fan of the Lion of England, this history provides some insight into how he thought. But, you will probably need a pen & paper to keep up with all the names and places. I am somewhat familiar with both and I still found myself rewinding repeatedly.
19 personnes ont trouvé cela utile
- 29/06/2013
Traditional Historical Writing at its Best
This is not a modern academic work of history, it's something more. From time to time it lacks the precision that we have come to expect of books on history written by academic historians, the careful balancing different points of view, and objective commentary. This work is Sir Winston at his best, with all his quirks and ideals. He offers unabashed praise of the English Speaking Peoples, their laws, their customs, their history, and their values and; in this world of politically correct 'objective' academic works, it seems a breath of fresh air. It was written by a son of the English aristocracy who makes no apologies for his views, his ancestors, or his past. And, yet, don't think that it's a politically incorrect or biased work, it's not, he's simply indifferent to these concerns. This indifference grants him the ability to comment freely on the events of history and this commentary is where the book really shines. Churchill makes connections between events throughout history that help tie together a thousand years of our past and help to explain events that might otherwise seem unrelated or inexplicable. Some of these connections are the type that modern historians would require an entire book to justify, Churchill simply asserts them, you are free to form your own opinion about their value or veracity. More than relaying history, Churchill explains history and this fact will likely ensure that this work is read for centuries to come.
10 personnes ont trouvé cela utile
- Mollynash
- 05/06/2006
Britain becomes a nation
Churchill wrote an interesting history and made several hundred years of English kings and wars and castle intrigue cogent and arresting. I look forward to the subsequent volumes.
19 personnes ont trouvé cela utile
- Kindle Customer
- 21/07/2011
Magnificant Historian
I don't know a better writer than Winston Churchill. It is like sitting in the room with a great story teller. My only regret about this book is that it covers too much ground too quickly. Having read a substantial amount about English history I still have difficulty keeping the Kings and Queens straight. Keeping this in mind this is a book that I shall read (listen to) several times.I cannot recommend the read more highly.
6 personnes ont trouvé cela utile
- mistifa
- 05/02/2011
Lots of info but thoroughly enjoyable
I agree with another reviewer that the many names, places, events and battles are hard to keep track of and I had to rewind often to keep up. Eventually I decided to just go with the flow and only rewound when really necessary. Once I gave up having to have all the details, I realized I was still retaining the general sense and direction of the events and still very much enjoying it. I like hearing Churchill???s take on things ??? especially when he remarks on how these historical events are similar to events in his time, which is powerful in light of what he lived through. I also really liked the narrator who sounded very Churchillian to me. Always clear, never hard to understand and had a pleasant pace and flow to his reading. I???m getting the second volume now and look forward to hearing about Elizabeth I.
11 personnes ont trouvé cela utile
- Bryan
- 12/07/2011
English History From a Master
There is a reason Winston Churchill could always be sure that his finances could be refilled by his writing. This is English history in great detail that feels like a wonderful story.
Churchill had a great feel for this history of his country and people, and this (the first of his 4 volume History of the English Speaking Peoples) gets the story rolling quickly. The story does go back into pre-Roman Britain, but it really gets rolling with his detailed look at all the kings and battles that put England together out of a rolling cast of Vikings, Saxons, Scots, Picts, and all the various brigands that tried to control this island.
The detail of the history is good, but what really brings this to a higher level of history is Churchill's insight into what the actions of different people or groups meant to the overall history of England and its culture.
Its interesting to note that this book was actually researched and started before WW I, but he went back to it after this cataclysm and brought out a classic of history.
I can't wait for the other 3 volumes to appear.
7 personnes ont trouvé cela utile
- Kindle Customer
- 09/05/2016
A glorious history of treachery and cruelty.
If only the Romans had remained in
England. Instead the inhabitants spent the next 1000 years breaking oaths, beheading each other, and generally acting badly.
Churchill does a fine job making the litany compressible.
2 personnes ont trouvé cela utile
- 24/06/2020
A fascinating written and told story...
for anyone interested in history, its twists and turns, its bloodshed and greed for power. Remarkably impressive.
- Martin Pfemeter
- 15/08/2018
all in all
exciting, interesting and never boring. A good step into English history. wish something similar would exist with more focus on austria


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My name is Sara, and I'm an Apple-aholic.
Hi Sara.
Thanks. Like most of you here, it started years ago with an iPod. Just a little, 32GB iPod. Everyone else already had one. I tried to be a good girl and just use my little non-Apple mp3 player, but everyone made fun of it. So I gave in to the peer pressure and tried my first Apple product. I'd seen my dad using them, so really, how much harm could there be in trying something Apple?
And at first, I had it under control. That one iPod was enough for me for a long time. True, I started toting it everywhere with me, just in case. And yes, I used it to hide from uncomfortable social situations. Turn it on, slip those little white earbuds in, and suddenly I felt good again. Was it a crutch? Yes. But I couldn't see that at the time because it was just one little iPod.
I should have known there was a problem when I had to have it wired into my car because I just couldn't function without it. And when I would panic if I didn't have it with me. But one little iPod can't hurt you, right?
But then I got my MacBook Pro. I'd had a Dell laptop (which, admittedly, I had wanted because they came in colors. I'm a girl. Deal with it.). And that's when the addiction really got bad. Because I never wanted to touch that old Dell again once I had my MacBook. Oh no. Everything just felt RIGHT when I used my Mac. Everything worked. There were no more viruses to worry about. No left button/right button confusion. And I felt superior to all those PC people who had to hit "CTRL" instead of "Command." Losers.
And I didn't even have an iPhone or an iPad! Clearly I wasn't an addict. Addicts couldn't be away from their Mac products for longer than three seconds without dying like the the guy who drank from the wrong cup in the third Indiana Jones movie. I, on the other hand, chose wisely. I could leave my iPod in my purse for most of the day and be fine.
That's how they suck you in though. That MacBook is a gateway drug. Because it came with a free iPod touch. Which meant that I was using Apple more than ever. I could leave my old iPod in the car and use the touch for everything else. I could even use it to get online when I had wifi and was away from my computer. Which, yes, I could do with my Blackberry, but it was just BETTER with an Apple product.
And oh how I clung to that Blackberry! I saw how addicted my dad had become to the Apple way of life, and I know that addictions are hereditary. I didn't want to go that route. So I vowed never to get an iPhone! Never to get an iPad! Never to fall prey to that Apple-induced madness that possesses addicts every time a new product is announced! Oh no, not me! I didn't have a problem! I could stop any time I wanted to.
Addicts, however, tend to surround themselves with other addicts to justify their behavior. And my parents are no different. Like the worst of smokers and drinkers, I started using my parents' iPads when they weren't looking. A websearch here. A Facebook update there. An email. A YouTube video. A round of Words With Friends. But they caught on. And because they don't see their own addictions as a problem, instead of castigating me, they bought me an iPad for my birthday last year. The Apple TV quickly followed suit.
And after that, there was no turning back. I woke up at 2:45am the night that the iPhone 4S went on sale to make sure I was alert enough to order mine EXACTLY at 3am. I claimed I had a doctor's appointment and left school early the day it was delivered–the FIRST day that anyone could have one, to rush home to set it up. Behavior that a non-addict would find simply appalling.
I couldn't stop though. I popped apps like they were TicTacs. I spent countless hours installing things I didn't need, had no use for, but craved because they were there and they enhanced my Apple products like nothing else could. I preferred texting other Apple users because they too acted like our behavior was normal. They got it. And with iMessage, I could see when they were replying to me. And we could send emojis. Non-Apple users didn't understand and judged us for preferring the company of other Apple-aholics. Clearly THEY were the ones with the problems. Not us. Never us. And even if some of my friends were addicted, I wasn't. I couldn't be an addict.
But when they announced the new iPhone 5 and I actually debated spending $700 on one because my contract isn't up for another year, I realized that I had a serious problem. Buying the iPhone 5 was the equivalent of going SEVEN Springsteen shows. (Okay, three with Ticketmaster fees. But still). I have bills to pay. A mortgage. A schnauzer to feed. And I was actually debating spending that much money just to get the new iPhone a few months earlier. Not good.
Maybe there was a way though. The day that the announcement was made, I tried to figure out if I could make the money. But when I posted this on my Facebook (JOKINGLY):
And got THIS as a reply from someone who shall remain nameless, but whom I will from now on refer to as the Creepiest Person I Know:
I realized my addiction had gone too far. (NO I DID NOT CONSIDER HIS OFFER. I'm NOT that bad! But that is a REAL, UNEDITED message that I got the night that the iPhone announcement was made. SCARY.)
So I'm taking a stand. I'm going to try to break the cycle of addiction. I can make do with the 4S with the upgraded iOS6, which does let it do most of the same stuff as the iPhone 5. No, it doesn't have the slightly different body to let everyone know immediately that my phone is superior to theirs in every possible way. But I'm strong. I can manage. And, God willing, with the help of other Apple-aholics out there who are also fighting the urge to spend $700 on a slightly better phone just because it's new and Apple makes it, I can resist the daily temptation to buy the iPhone 5. I know the craving won't ever actually go away. But I just need to take it one day at a time.
That's all any of us can do, right?
It's been on sale for pre-orders for over a week now. I've made it a week so far. And that's longer than I ever thought I would be able to last. It's been hard. Especially because my dad ordered his right when they went on sale. And I was lying there in bed, staring at the ceiling, praying that I would have the strength to stay away from my MacBook. Because I knew that as soon as I sat down at that screen, I wouldn't be able to resist going to the Apple homepage and ordering that phone. But I've made it this far, and I keep hoping I'll have the strength to resist even when I see other people with the new iPhone.
Damn you, Steve Jobs! I feel your icy grip clutching me from beyond the grave!
God, I want that phone.
|Stolen from http://theoatmeal.com/comics/apple


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Women who rode into Iraq during the 2003 Coalition invasion or who withstood on-base mortar attacks that killed other U.S. troops raucously cheered news of the impending lift of the female-combat ban, shouting the same three spirited words.
"It's about time!" said Laura Cannon, a 2001 West Point graduate who rolled into Iraq with the Army's 3rd Infantry Division, spending seven months there. "Women have been on the 'front lines,' per se, for years. Now they're getting credit and authorization that is long overdue. The landscape of combat has changed so much that front lines are ambiguous, and frankly, what I believe to be an obsolete concept."
"Yes!" added Julie Weckerlein, a Air Force veteran who served in Afghanistan and Iraq. In 2007, she sought cover and was not far from Army Sgt. Trista Moretti, 27, who was killed when mortars exploded on their base in Nasir Lafitah, Iraq. "There is definitely a sense of 'it's about time.'
"This decision means the military is finally removing that useless 'attached, but not assigned' verbiage that meant absolutely nothing on the field, with the boots on the ground," she added. Weckerlein worked as an Air Force combat correspondent, traveling throughout Iraq and Afghanistan, documenting the missions of Air Force joint terminal air controllers and Army infantry soldiers at remote provincial reconstruction team locations and at forward operating bases. In other words, she shadowed military men who were doing "male only" jobs.
Women now compose about 15 percent of the U.S. armed forces.
Placing American women in combat is "a great idea," especially because "my gosh, women have served in the military since World War I," said Terri Kaas, an Air Force veteran who spent time in Bahrain and Germany.
"Women in the military should be able to do the same jobs as men, whatever the mission is. Though the military has desegregated, women are still treated differently," in part because they have been held back from combat, Kaas said.
"I know, you still hear: 'It's a man's military.' But we are all service members," she added. "Look at the Marine Corps — they have equal standards of fitness for both genders. If the men can't respect women for the job they're doing maybe these men shouldn't be in the military."
In fact, argued Cannon, the policy and political path is now clear for Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta to eliminate "gender-based restrictions on military jobs and career paths altogether."
"I think every branch should have its own set of criteria and physical requirements, instead of the basic, existing standards that say: men need to do this and women need to do that," Cannon added.
"Pilots in the aviation branch certainly don't need to physically perform to the same levels as that of infantrymen. So have new standards applicable to every job. Then, if a woman can achieve all of the requirements necessary to enter the infantry — by all means — let her!"
Related: Defense chief Panetta to clear women for combat roles


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SAN ANTONIO --Soldier Show veterans Spcs. Glenn Grainger and Whitney Jones were married on Valentine's Day on the same stage where they met at Fort Sam Houston Theatre. Not only were they married by Army Installation Management Command Chaplain Lt. Col. Milton Johnson, but Jones was escorted down the aisle and given away by Lt. Gen. Mike Ferriter, IMCOM commander. "I don't think there's too many people that can say they had a three-star general walk their wife down the aisle, so this is definitely special," Grainger said. "And for him to postpone things to actually do this for us really means a lot. Then to have some of our friends who were in last year's show with us just put the icing on the cake. "You can't ask for a better commanding general than Lieutenant Genral Ferriter," Grainger continued. "He's definitely always looking out for everybody and always taking care of his Soldiers. Just to be here for a day like this, which was outside of his duty, just really means a lot. Coming from both of us, we just definitely say 'thank you.'"
It was an IMCOM wedding in a theatre the Soldier Show rebuilt with cupid in the air -- on Valentine's Day, no less.
"This is cool," Whitney said. "It's even cooler that we actually did it in the place we met. Our first plan was to go to the courthouse, but we thought: all our friends are here, so why not just do it at the theatre? Let's just ask the chaplain if we could do it here." Whitney remembers the day they met, Feb. 18, 2012, her 21st birthday. "We had not even officially made the show yet," she recalled. They both made the show and toured together for six months.
"I proposed to her on September 3rd," Glenn said. "I was just completely 100 percent sure that I found my angel." After the Soldier Show ended Oct. 5, Glenn returned to Fort Drum, N.Y., and Whitney to Orlando, Fla. Within three days, Glenn jetted to Florida for a short visit.
They were reunited Jan. 31 at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston, home of Army Entertainment, their new assignment. He now serves as a technician, she as an admin clerk. "God works in mysterious ways because I was up in Fort Drum, New York, where it's like negative 20 degrees, and to come back here with this beautiful weather is definitely one great thing," Glenn said. "And to be here with my wife, I don't have to worry about not seeing her anymore. We actually reported here on the same day, Jan. 31st. I'm here for the next three years and she'll definitely be here for the next two." Glenn said it was Whitney's idea to get married on Valentine's Day. "It worked out," he said. "Whatever to make her happy, I'm definitely willing to do."


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Start Good Manners Early
By Family Features
Learning good manners and etiquette can be confusing and complicated for many children, but getting them to embrace these social practices can help them become the sweet, polite individuals you've always dreamed they would become.
Here are 8 essential manners to instill in your children as early as possible:
Say "Please" and "Thank you" - These are the most elementary of manners - when asking for something, always say, "Please." When you have received something, always say, "Thank you."
Ask Permission - If you want to do something or use something, ask permission. Be sure to thank the person you are talking to, regardless of their response.
Don't Interrupt - Unless it is an emergency, do not barge in on a conversation between adults. Instead, wait until the adults have finished talking and they will attend to you.
Don't Use Bad Words - Grown-ups are well aware of profanity. When profane words come from children it is disagreeable and disrespectful to everyone around.
Cover Your Mouth - When you cough or sneeze, always cover your mouth with the inside of your elbow and use facial tissue. Also, be sure to wash your hands or use hand sanitizer when you're done.
Use a Napkin - When eating, always have a napkin in your lap, ready for messes. When you have finished eating, dab your face with the napkin to make sure it is clean.
Be Thankful - If you are not interested in an activity or a food someone has exposed you to, be thankful and pretend you are interested. You will hurt someone's feelings if you tell them you dislike what they have made or done for you.
Offer to Help - Whether in class or at a family holiday dinner, being helpful never goes unnoticed. Offer to help someone if they are working on something or carrying something heavy.
Once these manners become embedded in the daily lives of your children, they'll be well on their way to social success. But, remember, good habits like these don't form overnight. Use persistence and someday you'll see your efforts have paid off.


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Friday, November 19, 2010
Gaga Ain't Got Nothing On This
Posted by Doe Cheese at 9:50 AM 0 comments
Labels: artist i love, fashion, food
O Joy.....
So Mac Cosmetics has decide to give Nicki Minaj her own Mac lipstick shade (womp womp)
The lipstick is in honor of her new album Pink Friday and will be available at Mac for the next 4 Fridays.
Now all you basic bitches can have the perfect barbie pink shade of lipstick to match your well thought out Wetseal ensemble smh.
Posted by Doe Cheese at 9:37 AM 0 comments
Labels: nicki minaj, thats basic, WTF
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)


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Transfer news: Real Madrid bid £85m for Tottenham's Gareth Bale
Real Madrid have made a world record bid of over £85m to Tottenham for Gareth Bale, Sky Sports understands.
Last Updated: 31/07/13 2:29pm
Real's offer has been on the table for over a week, and Bale is becoming more and more frustrated with the situation.
The bid does not include any Real Madrid players moving to Spurs as part of a package.
Sky Sports understands Spurs chairman Daniel Levy is currently in Miami and that the club's stance - that the Wales international is not for sale - has not changed.
Bale has so far kept his feelings to himself, making no public declaration about what he wants to happen next.
Tottenham and Bale are back from the Asia Trophy and will resume training on Wednesday.
Speaking on the Sky Sports Football Season Preview show, former Spurs player and Sky pundit Jamie Redknapp said he thinks it is inevitable Bale will now move.
"How can he turn it down?" Redknapp said. "I also believe Spurs are a selling club - go back to Michael Carrick, Luka Modric, Dimitar Berbatov - okay, they also sell at the right price.
"I think there'll be a conversation between Daniel Levy and (owner) Joe Louis and I can only see one outcome, that he'll be a Real Madrid player."
Earlier on Tuesday, Real Madrid captain Iker Casillas backed his club's chase for Bale.
"We are talking about one of the top three or four best players in Europe," said Casillas, "and it's normal that his name is being discussed because he has all the qualities a footballer needs."
Madrid-based newspaper Marca, which is effectively a mouthpiece for Real, claimed on its front page on Tuesday that Spurs chairman Daniel Levy is demanding a fee of £126m, which would shatter the world-record fee for a footballer - the £80m Real spent on Cristiano Ronaldo in 2009.
Spain-based journalist Graham Hunter says the La Liga side are prepared to offer a huge sum to tempt the forward to Madrid.
"The briefing between Real and the Madrid media is that verbally - and I don't think there's a written offer - Spurs are aware that Real are willing to go to 93m euros for Gareth Bale," said Hunter.
Online bookmaker Sky Bet have now gone odds-on that Bale leaves Tottenham in the current transfer window for the first time this summer, with Madrid the clear favourites at 4/7 to land his signature.
The president of the Spanish Football League (LFP), meanwhile, has dismissed suggestions that Real Madrid's pursuit of Bale is immoral.
A potential world-record bid has attracted criticism in some circles in light of the economic crisis still ravaging Spain, but LFP president Javier Tebas insists he has no problem with Real getting their chequebook out.
He said: "It is immoral to pay for something when you cannot afford it. I think it's more immoral for a club to spend one million euros which they do not have.
"100million euros is a huge amount of money to spend on a player but if Madrid can afford that then it's not a question of morality, but of whether it's a risky move or not."
Tebas declared that he looks favourably upon the move for Bale, as the Welshman's arrival would boost the profile of Spanish football.
"I don't know much about him, but if Bale is a good player, than I'd rather he was over here (in La Liga) than in the Premier League," he said.
"It's not a question of how much he costs, you have to look at how much money he will generate, and if the LFP has all the stars, it will allow us to maintain high television revenue. All the money the arrival of this type of player generates translates into more revenue."
Tebas also responded to questions from journalists about the increasing number of high-profile players from outside of the top two clubs who have left La Liga this summer, such as Radamel Falcao, Alvaro Negredo, Jesus Navas and Iago Aspas, with Roberto Soldado set to follow the trend, by leaving Valencia for Tottenham.
"Seeing players leave is a double-edged sword,'' he said.
"Clubs need to decrease their debts, and it's a shame that players have to leave, but it is good news because this is the path we have chosen.
"Spanish football clubs pay 120million euros in interest each season, and just think about the players we could have had with that money and how much we could have paid them.
"If we can reduce our debts, in four or five seasons' time we will have more money to invest in our football. We are on the right track, and the clubs know that."


text: TNbourbon Posted February 5, 2004 I'd searched for several months for an affordable copy of Sally Van Winkle Campbell's remembrance of her grandfather, Julian "Pappy" Van Winkle, but could only discover a $60+ used copy on Amazon (and even that's gone now!). But happenstance brought me across a website called "A Taste of Kentucky" the other day, and lo and behold!, there was a brand-new "But Always Fine Bourbon" at what was probably the original issue price -- $29.99 plus shipping. Coffee-table-size, the inside covers are papered with reproductions of Stitzel-Weller bourbon labels, and the book itself has dozens of historic photos. Ms. Campbell's warm descriptions of both Pappy and her father, Julian Jr., are accompanied by a history of one of the most storied -- and missed -- bourbon franchises. I'm sure some of you already have this book, but if not, consider it.An exerpt from Pappy, at his 75th birthday bash on the 100th anniversary of the Weller company:"I do not believe we deserve so much praise, because, after all, we have simply tried to be honest and make a good product. I was taught to be honest, but I was not told there was to be a premium on honesty, but rather a penalty for dishonesty."He surely did deserve it. A Taste of Kentucky books Share this post Link to post Share on other sites


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|No such thing as a small change
Open beta test of the new databaseby Co-Rion (Monk)
|on Sep 24, 2008 at 19:00 UTC ( #713488=monkdiscuss: print w/replies, xml )
|Need Help??
After some trials and tribulations we're proud to announce the Beta Database. The database should be an exact copy of the production database running on a beefier machine.
Against the spirit of Google, beta means beta, and not "unsupported" or "don't sue us". It means that:
All changes on the Beta Database will be lost, as it is only temporary.
The database is a copy of PerlMonks as of the 24th of September. Please don't post real questions there and also don't post answers there. It will be wiped whenever a new copy of the real PerlMonks database is loaded into it.
As we're moving from MySQL 4 to MySQL 5, there are bound to be some queries and pages that don't work anymore. ambrus thankfully has already found two such instances (MySQL 5 is very picky about the order of implicit JOINs and LEFT JOINs). Please go there, check that everything is as you expect, and reply here with the pages you find that are not working.
The test program
For regression testing, I'm using the following program. It would be nice if your bug reports used a similar program to verify the bug or that the bug got fixed. Please also check that the bug does not also occur with the normal PerlMonks site :).
Known bugs
Co-Rion for the gods
Update: Removed link to http://qs343.pair.com/~monkperl/beta.cgi?node_id=109 as Google found it and the script doesn't exist anymore.
Back to Perl Monks Discussion


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New Released Exam Dumps: VMware 1V0-605 Exam Dumps Offer by Braindump2go for Free Download!
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DHS has compiled helpful tips and links on this page for your convenience in finding state and national information regarding H1N1 flu. The sections below also include information about managing stress during health emergencies, preventing the spread of the flu virus, and dealing with special needs populations.
DHS continues to partner with the NJ Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) - NJ's lead agency regarding this pandemic - to create this simple flu poster with tips for preventing the spread of the H1N1 flu virus. Click here to download the 11" x 17" pdf file so that you can print and post it in your school, business, workplace, or residential setting. Haga clic aquí para ver el cartel de la gripe H1N1.
DHS also advises DHSS regarding planning for special needs populations and for the mental health aspect of this or any pandemic event.
Designed to Help All New Jerseyans Prepare, Especially Employers and Employees
TRENTON - Beginning today, the Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) has added to its website a free, online pandemic influenza webinar to educate individuals on pandemic influenza preparations. The webinar is available in both English and Spanish on the DHSS website at http://www.nj.gov/health/training/panflu/download.shtml.
Click here to read the rest of the story...
The DHSS Pandemic Influenza Awareness Program covers everything you need to know, in simple language. It was developed with Rutgers University, funded by DHSS, and has considerable input from DHS' Disaster & Terrorism Branch's psychosocial experts.
Your Mobile Source for Credible Health Information -- CDC's health information is now available on your mobile device. Visit m.cdc.gov on your mobile phone or PDA for information on seasonal flu, H1N1 flu, public health emergencies, and more.
This site is designed to be easily read and navigated from mobile devices and will soon feature even more health and safety topics.


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- Font:
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First, too much texting caused some people to come down with painful Blackberry Thumb. Now today's technology is being blamed for another malady: text neck.
Don't miss these Health stories
More women opting for preventive mastectomy - but should they be?
Rates of women who are opting for preventive mastectomies, such as Angeline Jolie, have increased by an estimated 50 percent in recent years, experts say. But many doctors are puzzled because the operation doesn't carry a 100 percent guarantee, it's major surgery -- and women have other options, from a once-a-day pill to careful monitoring.
- Larry Page's damaged vocal cords: Treatment comes with trade-offs
- Report questioning salt guidelines riles heart experts
- CDC: 2012 was deadliest year for West Nile in US
- What stresses moms most? Themselves, survey says
- More women opting for preventive mastectomy - but should they be?
Doctors and chiropractors say people hunched over their mobile gadgets are developing neck strain, headaches and pain in the shoulders and, sometimes, in arms and hands. What's more, all that curving of the body to text, type, watch videos and play games could cause debilitating pain that lasts a lifetime, they warn.
"This is a global epidemic," says Dean L. Fishman, a chiropractor who practices at the Text Neck Institute in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. He trademarked Text Neck and changed the name of his practice after noticing 90 percent of his patients coming in with the same complaint. His youngest patient is a 3-year-old, who's in love with playing games on an electronic device.
"It's starting younger and younger. There are more than six billion phones connected, and that's not counting the Kindles, iPads, tablets and all these devices we rely on daily," Fishman says. "Go outside, to a restaurant, the supermarket, a gym, the airport and notice the posture of almost everyone around you. You will see this everywhere, and now multiply that by every city in the world."
American sent 110 billion text messages in December 2008, the U.S. Census Bureau reported, and that number can only be increasing.
Fishman says text neck is actually not a new condition, but it's getting more attention because so many people are suffering from it. Doctors used to call it forward head posture, but Fishman noticed his patients better understood what he was talking about when he used the term text neck.
Richard Wells, professor of applied sciences at the University of Waterloo, in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, wondered about the effects of technology on our bodies and conducted what is believed to be the world's first research study on text neck.
He found that among 140 students who participated in an online survey, twice as many experienced pain in their shoulders, neck and other areas when they used their devices three hours or more a day compared to those who used their devices for less time. The study was published in the January 2011 edition in the Journal of Applied Ergonomics.
"We learned the longer people use mobile devices, cell phones, PDAs — all the things we use to communicate with that have little keyboards — the more they have pain in their necks, shoulders and thumbs," he says.
Texas chiropractor Cynthia Vaughn and spokesperson for the American Chiropractic Association says text neck is affecting tens of thousands of people here in the United States because nearly everyone has a cell phone. "It's a known phenomenon and that's increasing and doctors need to educate their patients on the proper ergonomics of this."
Preventing text neck
Learning to hold your arms out and look straight ahead may initially seem awkward, but it can save your neck and spine, she says. Taking frequent breaks every 15 minutes and holding your head back also helps alleviate symptoms. The American Chiropractic Association also warns people to tuck their chins down to their chest, if you must look down rather than holding your arms out. Stretch your hands; squeeze a stress ball and stretch your chest by standing up straight with arms down at your side. Turn your forearms until your thumbs are pointing at the wall behind you.
"I tell my patients the easiest thing to do is pick up the phone and call people," Vaughn says. "Phones still call out. If you're not going to call people, take the time to drop your head back every few minutes."
For those who already have neck and shoulder pain, Fishman says his patients have found relief by coming in for adjustments. Chiropractors and orthopedic specialists most often treat the issue.
Fishman also created a new Android app, called Text Neck, which gives users a green light when they are properly holding their phones and a red light when they are holding their heads down and rounding their shoulders. The application also can send reports to parents who can monitor their children's posture while using their phones.
"We teach our patients to pull the shoulder blades back and down," he says. "In our research, we found the people who made the most improvement in the restoration in the curve of their neck came from people who made the biggest change and stopped hanging down low."
© 2013 msnbc.com. Reprints


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Request An Appointment At Our Fitchburg, MA Orthodontic Office
Please know this is not a secure or encrypted means of communicating with our practice.
Simply Orthodontics can help you or your loved one achieve a smile that benefits your dental health as much as it increases confidence. However, we want you to feel confident that your choice in an orthodontist is the right one. Follow the steps below to start your journey towards the smile you'll love for a lifetime!


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A few tips about these cards....
-Stamping the backgrounds with Distress Inks create texture. I don't usually ink up my stamps with Distress Inks for just plain ole' stamping. I usually save them for technique cards, but with this particular background stamp, it gave a cool texture.
-I've seen lots of artists layer up die cuts on their cards to give great dimension. I did that with the stamped star piece. I didn't have a die-cut for it, so I stamped the image several times, cut them out and glued them together. Can't tell from the picture, but it gives great dimension!
That's all for today. Thanks for dropping by! :)


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Home > Clothing & Accessories > Women > Accessories > Scarves > Lady Scarf Long Shawl Wrap - Solid Sky Blue
Product Details
This stylish scarf is super soft, lightweight, and with some elasticity. Perfect accessory for various styles of clothes!
- Material: Nylon
- Comes with unstitched sides; and the tiny wrinkles make it special
- 2 or 3 in different colors could be combined to create a fantastic look
- Measurement (L x W): Approx. 57 x 14 inch (145 x 36cm)
- Color: Solid sky blue
Package Includes:
- 1 x Scarf
Keywords: Scarf, shawl, wrap, lady, solid sky blue
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SACRAMENTO - Stockton's pension obligations under California's retirement system from the start have been a simmering issue during the city's long, painful slog through its bankruptcy.
SACRAMENTO - Stockton's pension obligations under California's retirement system from the start have been a simmering issue during the city's long, painful slog through its bankruptcy.
But late Tuesday afternoon on the second day of Stockton's Chapter 9 trial, the pension issue approached the boiling point. Most noteworthy of all was that it was the judge who turned up the heat, calling the pension issue "a festering sore" for the state.
Federal Judge Christopher Klein said he sees the Stockton case as an opportunity to examine the matter and perhaps to determine the court's possible role in pension reform. He gave no indication the matter could lead him to reject Stockton's plan to exit bankruptcy.
"It's conceivable I could conclude that (Stockton's) CalPERS contract could be impaired and the (financial reorganization) plan not be confirmed," Klein said, referring to Stockton's obligation to the California Public Employees' Retirement System, which exceeds $1 billion.
"Or I might conclude the CalPERS contract can be impaired, but in this case the decision (by the city) not to do so made sense. Or I could decide CalPERS can't be impaired because of California law. That's what's going on in my brain. This is an opportunity to get to the bottom of it."
The trial is scheduled to last two more days. Today, though, previously unscheduled testimony from CalPERS actuary David Lamoureux is expected to be given. The extra testimony could extend the trial.
Earlier this year, Lamoureux gave a pretrial written declaration on behalf of CalPERS. Attorneys for the city and for its lone remaining major creditor, Franklin Templeton Investments, told the judge late Tuesday that they had agreed in advance to forego further questioning of Lamoureux.
But Klein, a listener for most of the trial's first two days, said softly, "I might like to ask some questions."
Klein's attention to the pension issue is hardly a complete surprise. During a hearing earlier this year, he said he wanted Stockton to "convince" him that its financial reorganization would succeed absent adjustment to its CalPERS costs.
City officials have cited numerous reasons for not trying to tackle CalPERS costs. City Manager Kurt Wilson said earlier this year that the city indirectly addressed future pension costs by eliminating retiree medical care and shrinking staffing as a result of the bankruptcy. After Klein spoke Tuesday, the city's lead attorney, Marc Levinson, said a court decision forcing Stockton to impair its CalPERS costs would be disastrous.
"The city has the real and palpable belief that as soon as we take on pensions, whether or not we're successful, we lose our employees," Levinson said.
Several city retirees attended the first two days of the trial, among them former police dispatcher Joni Anderson and her 55-year-old husband, Mark, a retired sergeant.
"There won't be any sound sleeping in the Anderson household tonight," said Joni Anderson, 47. "I'm shocked this would be considered at this late juncture. If the pension is impaired, it will ruin everyone who has ever worked for the city of Stockton."
Michael Gearin, a CalPERS attorney, said if the organization he represents is brought into the fray, "we're in jeopardy of embroiling the city in a messy problem the city doesn't want to be embroiled in."
Jason Rios, the attorney for Stockton's retiree organization, told Klein, "Putting (CalPERS) into play, I believe, would create a change in the game."
On the other hand, James Johnston, the lead attorney for Franklin, was supportive of Klein. Johnston accused Stockton of having "its mind made up" from the start not to seek adjustment of its CalPERS costs as part of its bankruptcy reorganization.
Franklin lent the city $35 million in 2009. Stockton has proposed repaying Franklin about 1 percent of that sum, roughly $350,000. Johnston said his main concern is not pension reform but that his client be reimbursed.
"Franklin wants to get paid on its claim," Johnston said. "If the city can honor its pension liabilities at the same time, fabulous."
Klein said he wants to look closely at all aspects of Stockton's reorganization plan, not just CalPERS.
"If I just rubber-stamp plans," Klein said, "I might as well just be a potted plant."
Contact reporter Roger Phillips at (209) 546-8299 or firstname.lastname@example.com. Follow him at recordnet.com/phillipsblog and on Twitter @rphillipsblog.


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Deeper cuts in funding for state and local services avoided with rejection of TABOR
Maine and Washington voters deliver victory for students, schools and communities
WASHINGTON - November 04, 2009 -
Voters in Maine and Washington states have resoundingly rejected radical initiatives that would have forced even deeper cuts in funding for schools, health care, senior programs, transportation and other state and local governmental services. Maine voters have now rejected versions of the proposal three times since 2004.
The original initiative, so-called "Tax Payer Bill of Rights (or TABOR)," was patterned after an amendment adopted by Colorado voters in 1992.
Voters suspended the Colorado TABOR in 2005 after the spending limits it imposed had hamstrung the state's economy and caused unacceptable reductions in critical state and local services. A report by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities concluded that "TABOR has hampered economic growth and reduced quality of life in Colorado." http://www.cbpp.org/cms/index.cfm?fa=view&id=2954.
The Maine TABOR proposal, Question 1, was defeated 60% to 40%. Chris Galgay, president of the Maine Education Association said: "TABOR would have had a devastating impact on our classrooms, and we are pleased that the voters of Maine chose to protect the high quality of our programs and the learning opportunities for our students."
The Washington TABOR, Initiative 1033, was rejected 55% to 44%. "With Initiative 1033's failure, we can ensure Washington's infrastructure and higher education systems remain competitive with other states and nations around the globe," said George Allen of the Seattle Chamber of Commerce.
"Voters have seen harm caused by the recession in their classrooms, communities and businesses, and they understand that gimmicks like these initiatives would have made things worse," said Mary Lindquist, president of the Washington Education Association. "We're happy but not surprised that the push by Grover Norquist and other anti-government ideologues to 'nationalize TABOR' has been turned back."
# # #
The National Education Association is the nation's largest professional organization, representing 3.2 million elementary and secondary teachers, higher education faculty, education support professionals, school administrators, retired educators and students preparing to become teachers.
CONTACT: Miguel A. Gonzalez (202) 822-7823, firstname.lastname@example.com


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Arrives in 3-7 Business Days
UNDERSTANDING NORMAL AND CLINICAL NUTRITION, Eighth Edition, provides the most current and comprehensive coverage of both "normal" nutrition, such as digestion and metabolism, vitamins and minerals, and life cycle nutrition, as well as "clinical" nutrition related to diseases, such as nutrition and gastrointestinal, liver, and cardiovascular diseases. The text also incorporates a number of learning tools designed to help you retain the information and apply your knowledge so you are better prepared to work in a clinical setting. Features include case studies, "How To" boxes with examples of problem-solving in real-world situations, and study questions that further conceptual understanding of the material. Regardless of your course background, the text is organized and written in a clear, easy-to-follow format that will get you actively involved in the field of nutrition.